Kay Chronister Boeken

In this atmospheric Appalachian gothic tale, the Haddesley siblings of West Virginia must confront buried secrets to forge a future after their supernatural bond with their ancestral land is disrupted. For generations, the family has tended the cranberry bog, which sustains them in exchange for a ritual sacrifice of their patriarch, renewing a covenant that brings forth a "bog-wife" to continue their lineage. However, when the bog fails to honor its end of the bargain, the siblings—still mourning their mother’s mysterious disappearance—face an uncertain future. Middle child Wenna returns to the crumbling family manor amid her own marital crisis, convinced they should abandon their heritage. Her siblings, however, resist this idea. Eldest daughter Eda, the household's de facto leader, attempts to salvage the compact through desecration, while younger son Percy ventures into the wilderness in a reckless attempt to summon his own bog-wife. As youngest daughter Nora takes desperate steps to maintain family unity, fledgling patriarch Charlie uncovers a troubling secret that challenges their understanding of family legacy. Rich with themes of loss and the tension between familial duty and personal freedom, this narrative explores the haunting influence of the past and the ties that bind us.

Kay Chronister’s remarkable debut collection of modern horror tales, Thin Places, echoes with the ghosts of Shirley Jackson and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, while forging its own unique gothic sensibility. Here there be monsters! And witches! These are tales of monstrous mothers and dark desires. Love, grief, death; and the exquisite pain and joy of life. With transcendent prose, Chronister chronicles the lives of powerful women and children; wicked witches and demons. These are the traumatic ghosts we all carry, and Chronister knows what it means to be human and humane. Powerful and hypnotic, these are tales you won’t forget, from a vibrant new voice.

A young girl and her father take a desperate pilgrimage through a blasted post-apocalyptic Mojave Desert to the Holy City of Las Vegas in this vivid and uncanny tale of outsiders in a dangerous world, perfect for fans of Lucy A. Snyder and Jeff Vandermeer.

Strange and startling new fiction from Stuart Arthur, Kay Chronister, Thomas Ha, Annika Barranti Klein, Lynn Hutchinson Lee, Thersa Matsuura, Spencer Nitkey, Matthew Olivas, Josh Pearce, M. Rickert, and Kristiana Willsey. Plus opinion, reviews, and commentary from Simon Strantzas, Orrin Grey, and Lysette Stevenson. "Excellent!" -Ellen Datlow, The Best Horror of the Year